In a wide variety of applications, there is a need to re-position barrels, containers, equipment, or other such articles which, due to their weight and form, are not readily movable manually. One example of these applications is found in the context of traffic safety barriers. In areas where there is a particular danger of a collision occurring or where construction is taking place, sand barrels are lined along the roadway intended to take impact and to be somewhat of a giving barrier. The barrels are filled with sand or other powdery/particulate substance, or even water, and are large enough to be of considerable weight when filled, typically between 800 and 3000 pounds. The sheer weight of the barrels makes them cumbersome and therefore, to move the barrels from one location to another is a tedious and time consuming process. The articles are bulky enough and heavy enough that safe re-positioning requires some form of powered or other mechanical assist. A tractor, fork lift, skid steer, or other such vehicle may be available to provide powered lifting and moving capabilities, but significant time consuming and labor intensive measures are typically required to ensure proper securement to the vehicle's lifting mechanism for safe and stable lift and movement.
For instance, at the present time, the repositioning of such barrels occurs in one of two ways. First, the repositioning is accomplished manually by an individual construction or municipal worker, for example. In such cases, the barrels are generally first emptied so that they are light enough for an individual to lift and move with relative ease from one position to another. Man power is required not only to empty or drain the containers but also to physically move them from one location to the next. Therefore, this approach to effectuating the repositioning is physically demanding and rather costly based upon the time-consuming nature of such efforts.
Alternatively, repositioning of the barrels may be accomplished mechanically with the aid of a construction or utility vehicle. When mechanical means are used to assist with the repositioning, a skid steer (for example, a BOBCAT, skid steer or other such utility vehicle) is often used to pick up the barrels, one at a time for repositioning them at another location along a roadway. However, it is noted that the use of such equipment does not completely eliminate the need for manual assistance because once the barrels have been initially picked up, because of their typically bulky structural configuration and the manner in which the weight of the contents may re-distribute within the barrels themselves, they must be strapped down in some way to ensure that they are balanced on the lifting bucket, fork, or other mechanism provided on the particular machine used to effectuate repositioning. There are no straps or other such product heretofore known in the art particularly suited for such an operation. Generally, one simply settles for a makeshift securement device such as a ratchet strap or a chain and binding. Aside from raising serious safety and reliability concerns, such impromptu devices contribute to the time consuming and cumbersome nature of the process of moving the barrel as they have to be undone after each barrel is moved and re-secured for subsequent movement of the barrel. Other factors contributing to the time consuming nature of conventional repositioning measures include the bulky size of the barrels and the manner in which they are clustered together along a roadway. Such factors make it difficult to maneuver a skid steer, or other suitably accommodated machinery, around the barrels to gain clear access to a barrel that is to be moved.
There is therefore a need for a mechanism that enables the barrels to be simply and conveniently picked up from one position and re-set at another in a safe, effective, and efficient manner.